Channel 4 Appoints Head of Digital Commissioning

22 March 2021

New role joins Karl Warner’s recently formed Youth and Digital Department

Channel 4 has appointed Sacha Khari to the newly created role of Head of Digital Commissioning, reporting into Head of Youth and Digital, Karl Warner.

When he joins the channel, Khari will take on responsibility for all digital content commissioning and acquisition across social and digital platforms, working closely with the Leeds-based 4Studio. He will oversee a team of digital commissioners, including Laura Marks who commissions branded ents and factual; Navi Lamba who is across E4, ents and Teens, and a third digital commissioner whose main focus will be comedy, who is yet to be appointed.

Prior to joining Channel 4, Khari was Group Director of Video at UNILAD, overseeing strategy, development, production and delivery of all original and commercial content globally, before moving over to LADbible Group as Head of Video.  Under his leadership, the team won both the Digiday Video Team of the Year Award 2018 and Marketing New Thinking Awards, Media Team of the Year.

His previous roles also include Head of Video at Bauer Media and Commissioning Director at The Beats. Khari has 17 years of digital experience in commissioning, executive producing and directing content, with over 1,000 long and short-form online video credits.

Karl Warner, Head of Youth and Digital at Channel 4 said: “We’re thrilled Sacha’s joining us to head up a group of top-class creatives in our new digital commissioning team. He brings with him an absolute wealth of experience in producing digital content that young audiences love, and alongside the brilliant 4Studio, who’ve produced amazing content this last year, we look forward to cementing our digital ambitions and playing a big part in the success of the Future4 strategy.”

Sacha Khari said: “Will miss the ‘LADs’, their expertise in social never fails to blow my mind. However, to turn the page and dive into the Future4 game changing digital vision, with Karl and the team, is beyond thrilling. 

“Channel 4 has bookmarked my life with content that has defined me - I can’t wait to play a role in bringing this warmth to both digital audiences and new communities!”

Khari’s digital commissioning team will also be bolstered by two new commissioning execs, joining the Channel, reporting into Laura Marks:

Evie Buckley will be joining from Acme films where she is currently an Executive Producer for both broadcast and digital and has secured commissions and worked on numerous productions for the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, YouTube Originals, Facebook Watch and Red Bull. Most recently she worked with Channel 4 to develop and produce The Real Eastenders, How Not To Be Racist and Damilola: The Boy Next Door, which has just won an RTS Award. Evie joins Channel 4 in April.

Also joining is Joe Churchill, who will commence his role this month. He has previously worked at the BBC and Sony Pictures before founding digital content studio, Weekend, where he spent four years as Creative Director. He also has a strong track record of producing digital content for brands including Google, Airbnb, Heineken, Greenpeace and Liverpool FC.

Evie and Joe join existing digital commissioning exec, Thomas Pullen who prior to Channel 4 worked as a producer and director across a number of genres for both broadcasters and brands. His expertise in branded content has seen him work with Google, Intel, Coors Light and many more on award winning projects such as Disability Works, which took gold at the Media Week Awards. 

 

Sacha Khari will join Channel 4 in June.

 

Ends